Manchester United have already overcome a hurdle when it comes to potentially hiring Erik ten Hag as their next permanent manager. The Red Devils are interested in the Dutchman as they look for a full-time successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was sacked earlier in the season. Ralf Rangnick, meanwhile, isn’t expected to be given the keys to the club despite being hired as interim manager.
Manchester United sacked Solskjaer back in November, less than 24 hours after a chastening 4-1 defeat away at Watford.
The club did contemplate hiring a permanent manager for the Norwegian but, in the end, opted to hire Rangnick on an interim basis instead.
It’s been a mixed start to life at Old Trafford for the German, who has been struggling to coax the best from his star-studded squad.
He isn’t expected to be put under consideration for the job full-time come the summer, however.
And that means United are primed to embark on yet another managerial hunt.
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Mauricio Pochettino remains admired, having been on United’s radar ever since his time at Southampton.
Ed Woodward contemplated hiring him as Sir Alex Ferguson’s replacement in 2013, only to end up going for the more proven David Moyes instead.
It was a similar story in 2016, too, when Pochettino was working wonders at Tottenham.
However, Jose Mourinho was given the job instead – winning two trophies before being sacked in December 2018.
When that happened, United put Solskjaer in charge temporarily because they intended to pursue Pochettino.
Yet when results under the Norwegian were too good to ignore, they abandoned their pursuit of the Argentine again.
Pochettino would be keen to return to the Premier League at some point, especially with his family still living in England.
And he’s another name United remain strongly linked with as they plan for a brighter future.
There is admiration within Old Trafford for Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann.
However, the German would be reluctant to leave the reigning Bundesliga champions after just one year.
Meanwhile, former Arsenal star Ray Parlour was recently quizzed on United’s managerial situation.
And he claimed Pochettino would be ‘top of the list’ of potential Solskjaer and Rangnick successors.
“He would be top of the list you’d imagine. It’s whether they can get him. It looks like they might’ve done a deal,” Parlour told talkSPORT.
“Behind the scenes, I’m sure they’ve got their one, two and three, their agents will be saying ‘is he interested, is he ready to go in the summer’, he knows the Premier League, he’s been at Spurs so I think he’ll be a good fit for Manchester United.”
United are next in action against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday (5.30pm).
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